beauty for ashes

I often feel unqualified. I feel that I am not enough. That there is somebody else out there who could do a better job at what I am trying to do. I feel that I am unworthy. I am broken. What is it that makes me feel this way. The lies that are clouding my mind. The world.

The bible tells me that the broken people will be the people who rebuild the city. All the broken people shall become great.

In Isaiah 61 it tells me that He will give me beauty for my ashes and give me joy instead of mourning, He will set praise upon my lips. I will be called an oak of righteousness and I will display His splendor. I will rebuild the city and restore places that have been long devastated. I will inherit a double portion and everlasting joy.

He will take our ashes. What is left over. Our past mistakes. The adversities we have faced in our lives. Evidence of our repentance. He will give us beauty. Beauty is holiness. Where God can take our past mistakes and the adversities in our lives and turn them around. So I shall be pursuing holiness and abide in the work of the Lord.

We are redeemed to rebuild the city, so that it is a reflection of heaven. Lets not listen and take to heart what the world tells us. To remain as ashes in the fire grate of life. Lets listen to what the bible tells us, that we have been restored and given beauty for ashes.